Marshall House gets merry

Volunteer Kate Sacamano helps deck the historic halls of the Marshall House on Monday afternoon on Officers Row. (ZACHARY KAUFMAN/The Columbian)

Modern touches can come in handy, even when you want to deck the halls historically.

The Marshall House is undergoing a holiday makeover this week, thanks to a grant that provided the decorations and a dozen people who did the decorating.

The garlands and greenery are an echo of Christmas in the 1850s, when the U.S. Army was establishing itself in Vancouver. The design scheme actually is older than the house, which was built in 1886.

The status of Marshall House means it requires some special handling for the holidays.

“Because it’s a historic landmark, we are not allowed to use nails or hooks,” said Mike Sloan, one of the volunteers. “So, we’re using a 20th century solution to hang garlands over the windows.”

That would be Velcro.

“We got approval for that,” Sloan said. They attached thin strips of Velcro along the woodwork at the top of the window, where it isn’t visible.

The garlands and other greenery draped over staircases and formed into wreathes look true to the pioneering period, but they’re a modern touch, too. That artificial greenery is the result of Mary Granger’s grant request.

Granger is president and founder of the “I Have a Dream” program that helps local students prepare for, and get into, college. When they held their 2007 holiday party at the Marshall House, Granger observed that the natural evergreen boughs were past their prime.

For safety reasons, the natural wreathes and garlands had been treated with a fire retardant. By Christmas, the greenery was more of a dull gray: brittle and ready to shed needles at a nudge.

They could do better, figured Granger, who has family links to the Marshall House as well as the funding source.

Granger got $5,000 through the R.F. Petersen Memorial Fund, set up in her father’s name for city beautification.

Her father retired as an Army captain after serving four years in the Pacific during World War II and enjoyed walking along Officers Row.

Granger’s mother, Kathryn Petersen, worked at the Marshall House when it was the local headquarters for the American Red Cross.

“I used to go there after school,” Granger said.

Granger enlisted Pamela Wolf, who has holiday roots in the neighborhood.

“A friend and I did the lighting for Officers Row for 20 years,” Wolf said.

Members of the makeover team did some research on the topic of 1850s Christmas decor, and found that it went beyond ribbons and greenery.

“They used paper decorations, and fruit,” said Janis Call, daughter of Dick and Mary Granger. “We’re also using as many candles as we can.”

Candles were a decorating standby 150 years ago, and their flickering flames once again are giving the Marshall House a warm holiday glow.

The candles are real, but these flames are battery powered. The flickering glow deep inside each candle is from a tiny LED bulb.

“They will run for eight hours and turn off automatically,” Sloan said.